Beyond the Stone, page 13
“Like I fucking said before,” Myko said. “We start a revolution. We take them by the short and curlies and take them the fuck down.”
“Now is not the time for that,” Jackson said. “We don’t know enough. We know there are things going on, but we don’t know everything of what they are. We know that they are lying to us, that they are trying to keep mortals and supernaturals apart, but we don’t know why. To start a revolution right now would be foolish in the extreme.” He shook his head. “We don’t know enough.”
“Aren’t you a fucking Seer?” Myko said. “Can’t you find out what’s going on?”
“We both are.” Madison stepped forward and stood beside Jackson. “I don’t know what’s going on either, all I know is that Jackson and Bane need each other, that we all need each other. That together, we can battle against the darkness that is coming, this nothing that is set to threaten us.” Madison motioned to all of them. “All I know is that we need to work together.” She glanced at Myko. “Someone needs to fight against the regime.”
A devilish smile spread across his lips. “Why Madison, I always did take you for a lady of taste.”
“We have to be quiet about it,” Madison said. “Less revolution and more revolutionary. Revolutionaries stand up against what’s wrong, don’t they? They wage war against those that would wish us harm? Isn’t that what we’re all talking about here?”
“Well, what the fuck was I talking about, then?” Myko said.
“You wanted to storm the castle like the young princeling you are. You would have burned those you chased down, regardless of whether they were your enemy,” Eliza said.
“Isn’t that what we’re doing, though? We are talking about taking down the regime of the Clocktower?” Myko said.
“Yes, we are,” Bane said. “But we have to be more subtle. My mother is right. You are all flash and boom. But fear not, there is a great use for that.”
Myko scoffed. “And what’s that? You want me to dance around like a pretty pony?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Bane said. They all looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “Think about it. They want us to investigate the black market, don’t they? Even though there is nothing going on and they are using this whole exercise as a cover for something? Well, we don’t want them to know that we’re beginning to figure things out. So, you need to give them exactly what they are asking for.”
Myko shook his head. “I don’t follow you, babycakes.”
“You are going to be our bright, sparkly Trojan horse,” Bane said. “If they think that the black market is harming their budgets and endangering people, whatever the fuck that means, then you better make them worry for real. You need to create the biggest distraction you can so that they don’t notice the rest of us doing what needs to be done.”
“What kind of distraction?” Myko said.
Bane shrugged. “I don’t fucking know. Use every magician you know, create the biggest diversion you can. Make the whole district think that dragons have come back to Earth or that phoenixes have risen again to spread their fire.”
“I like how you worked that in there,” Madison said. “Very subtle.”
“Yeah, I thought so,” Bane said, turning to her with a grin on his face. “You have to make them think that the world is coming to an end. In short, you have to make them look at you so that they don’t look anywhere else.” Bane raised an eyebrow at Myko. “Think you can do that?”
Myko threw back the rest of his drink and threw the glass to the floor. “Darlings, I will be the most sparkly Trojan horse that the world has ever seen!”
“I have no doubt of that,” Jackson said, softly.
“Be quiet, you! I will do what you all ask of me.” He grinned devilishly. “I have always loved the spotlight. This will be my chance to shine. No, not just me, all the magicians and the stars, lightning bolts, and Dryads that have had to hide in the shadows of the black market. We will all shine.”
Myko looked different than Bane had ever seen him. There was a look of focus in his eyes that had not been there before. “When do I begin?”
“Right away, the sooner the better, actually,” Bane said.
“Right, well, we get one night of revelry and then we begin.”
Bane looked at Jackson. “Um, I kind of had plans. I don’t want to speak for anyone else.”
Myko waved a hand at him. “Oh, I wasn’t speaking about any of you. Do whatever the fuck you want. I was speaking of myself and Claude who is standing there all quiet and serious-like.” Turning his gaze on Claude, Myko said, “I have always loved the strong and silent type.”
Crooking his finger at Claude, Claude went towards Myko with a silly grin on his face, as if he were a puppy and was about to experience the best belly rub in the world.
Watching them, Bane shivered. For all they knew, Claude was about to experience a belly rub. Bane shivered inwardly. One thing was for sure, he wanted to see neither of them naked. That was liable to make him throw up his dinner and whatever booze he had in his system.
“We begin tomorrow,” Myko said. “Wait for the signal.”
They all watched Claude and Myko leave and when the door closed, it was as if a spell had broken. Lucille and Darcy took off and Madison readied herself to leave for home. “What do you think his signal will be?” she asked.
“Knowing him, it will be big and flashy,” Bane said.
“Knowing princes as well as I do,” Eliza said, “it will be something shiny. The very air will sparkle around us.”
“Sounds lovely,” Madison said. “The district could do with a little sparkle. Speaking of which, any more of that drink left?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Bane lay beside Jackson, listening to his heartbeat.
It was difficult to think that he had only known Jackson a few days when his body felt that Bane had known him for his whole life, though he knew that wasn’t true. However, his body remembered him, his spirit knew him deeply.
“What do you think is going to happen?” Bane asked him. Bane felt Jackson shrug.
“I don’t know. It’s like Madison and Myko, I just see fog. I can see shadows within the fog, and it’s almost as if I can reach out and touch them, but they draw farther away from me. I’ve been hoping since I finally met you in the flesh that I would stop dreaming of you and dream of what is to come, but I dream of you, still.”
“What do you dream?” This came out in a whisper.
“I dream of holding you, of catching you as you fall. I dream of flying with you, the sky and the wind whipping by us. I see a bright shower of stars as you take my hand, a look of utter joy on your face.” Jackson shifted so that he could look at Bane. “I see you. It’s always you.”
They kissed, Bane leaning into him. The stone of his skin began to shift and move and harden...while other things stiffened.
Taking all of him in, Jackson smiled and let out a soft chuckle. “Well, someone is happy to see me.”
“I’m always happy to see you. I still don’t understand how you can look at me without revulsion, but if freaks are your thing, I’ll be your freak.”
Jackson sat up. “I really wish you would stop that.”
“What?”
“You know what. Putting yourself down. You come across as this tough asshole kind of guy a lot of the time. You know one of the toughest things that there is for a person to do?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“One of the most difficult things is to love yourself,” Jackson said.
“Why bother, when I have you to love me?”
Jackson let out a snort. “I bet you say that to all the pretty boys.”
“No, just you.”
Bane went to grab Jackson, to pull him closer, but there was a rush of air and time and then Jackson was on the other side of the room. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Care to join me for a nighttime stroll?” Jackson said, smiling.
“Sure, let me put something on first.”
“No, I want to go walking, just the way you are.”
Jackson moved again and then Bane felt Jackson’s hand grabbing his wrist. When he saw clearly again, they were on the first floor in front of the entrance to the back yard.
“Hey, we can’t go out like this!” Bane said.
“Why not?”
“Someone could see us. What about my mother?”
Eliza spoke from inside the living room. “You boys have fun, my beautiful Asher of ashes,” she said. “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”
“Shit,” Bane said.
“Come on. I want to show you something,” Jackson said.
Jackson took Bane’s hand in his own and there was that rush again, that sense of being and not being, of being flesh and being spirit and then they were standing outside. Bane looked around himself and then turned back to Jackson, shaking his head. “I wish you’d fucking warn me when you do shit like that.”
“What would be the fun in that? You’d know what I was going to do.”
“Exactly.”
“Again, not as fun.”
“So, are you going to fucking tell me why we’re standing out here in our birthday suits? Or is that to remain a mystery, too?”
“No, Bane.” Jackson’s smile was like a bright light in the darkness. “Look at yourself. Look at yourself in the darkness.”
Bane started to laugh but the laughter slowly died away. His body was still covered with the stone markings, but they were different in the darkness and shadow. The stone of his skin looked different, almost as if it were alive. It practically shone in the dark. Bane was sure that a subtle light did shine from his skin.
Touching his skin, Bane saw that touch cause a ripple that moved along his body as if he had thrown a stone in the water. If he closed his eyes, Bane could hear the soft movement of the water. He looked up at Jackson.
“I’m a freak!” he said fiercely. “How can you look at me?”
“Because you’re gorgeous. And you’re not a freak.”
“What am I? I fucking sparkle! Avert your eyes before you go blind.”
“You don’t sparkle. It’s more of a pulse.”
“Yeah, but how can stone fucking pulse? How is that possible?”
Jackson only shrugged. “How is anything we do possible? How is magic possible? How is wizardry, controlling electricity, or magic possible? It just is.”
“Yeah, but I’m made of fucking stone. How can that be a liquid?”
Coming closer to him, Jackson said, “We are all made up of water. What do you think will happen when that water combines with stone?”
“Great, I get to glow like a firefly,” Bane said, grumpily.
“It’s okay, babe. I think you look gorgeous. And this pulse is only temporary.”
“What do you mean?”
“What happens when a stone breaks open? I think this is part of your transformation.”
“Into what?”
“Whatever you’re about to become. You’re a Rook, so Rooks can change shape. I’m not sure how the stone will affect that, but we’ll just have to find out.”
“Great,” Bane said. “As if we don’t have enough to deal with, now I’m going to finally finish my transformation that has taken years to complete?” Bane huffed out a breath. “You know that’s some kind of bullshit, right?”
“Be that as it may, things have to happen this way.”
“So says you...” A thought occurred to Bane. “So, in your dreams of me, did you ever see my cock?” Bane said, with a leer.
“I can neither confirm nor deny.” Jackson grinned mischievously.
“Spoilsport,” Bane said, pulling Jackson closer for a kiss. It was so hot, he wondered if the part of him that was made of water would turn into steam. He leaned in for a kiss and when their lips touched, Bane felt that pull again around his stomach, the whoosh of sound ceasing to be and the rush of wind that filled everything around him. This all happened in a second.
When his eyes cleared, Bane saw that they were back in his bedroom. “Hey, what gives?”
“Did you really want to show the neighbours everything?” Jackson said, and kissed Bane.
For his part, Bane forgot whatever he was going to say and just lost himself in the kiss. Soon, the words he had been about to say melted away inside of him and found their way out of his skin like grains of sand come from the earth.
His whole body welcomed Jackson, thirsting for him. It had felt like it had been years since Jackson had touched him, Bane’s body craved Jackson so much.
Jackson’s lips on his and Jackson’s hand on his cock all at the same time. When the flow of stone reached his dick, he grew even harder. The stone of his skin reacted to his emotions and right now he was hard and hot, inside and out.
Jackson worked his way down Bane’s body, touching him everywhere, learning every inch of him. To Bane, it felt like Jackson was memorizing him, drinking Bane in, one pore at a time.
“What are you doing?” Bane whispered.
“Learning how to love you,” Jackson said.
“I thought you already did,” Bane said, a little breathlessly as Jackson worked his way down.
When Jackson’s mouth found Bane’s dick, he lost all thought, all semblance of words or substance of thinking. Bane could have sworn that he was floating, that the world was made only of air and the sound of their hearts beating.
The ripple of stone changed again, becoming hot like lava as Jackson stood and positioned himself above Bane. “What are you doing?” Bane asked again.
“Loving all of you,” Jackson said.
Slowly, so slowly, Jackson began to lower himself onto Bane’s cock. Jackson felt the tip of Bane’s cock enter him and he shivered as his asshole swallowed first the head and then, slowly, the shaft. They sat there joined in heart, body, mind, and soul. To Jackson, Bane had never looked more beautiful. Bane looked up at him with dark, heavy-lidded eyes. The brown of them had morphed to gold and his hair looked like a mane, all dishevelled.
Moving slowly, Jackson began to move up and down, feeling every part of Bane inside of him. It was more than just his cock. His spirit and body were within him too. Jackson had heard tell of joinings before, but he never thought he would experience one.
Bane cried out and the candles in the room lit of their own accord. He could feel a breeze rushing along his skin, as if his body held the wind itself. A drop of sweat fell from Jackson’s skin and when it hit Bane’s, the sound of a flute began to fill the air, softly, as if it was just realizing it had a voice.
His mother had told Bane of handfastings, that Witches and others had used to fasten their hands together for a year and a day, and in this way, they were wed. She had told him that there were particular elements that had to be involved, namely that of the five points of the star: earth was his body, air was the breeze he felt along his skin likely made by their breaths combining. Fire was the candles, likely lit by their growing passion, the water was the very sweat from their bodies that combined.
The only thing missing was spirit but, looking at Jackson, Bane knew that it had never been missing in the first place. They each carried each other’s spirits within themselves; more, Bane thought that they shared a spirit between them. How else to explain the bond?
Bane cried out as he fell over the edge, as he emptied himself within Jackson. There was more light than there had been and Jackson’s eyes widened. “What is it?”
“You’re glowing again.”
“I don’t care, come for me, give me all of you.”
When Jackson had his release and cried out, Bane cried out with him, certain that they had found the secret of eternal life. Jackson gently rearranged himself and lay beside Bane, pulling him closer. Bane smelled his scents of sweat and love and sex. He blinked his eyes, wondering if the candles had gotten brighter, then looked down at himself.
Jackson had been right. He was glowing, but not like the gentle glow of before. Now he was lit up like a firework. As he lay there, listening to his breathing and the sound of Jackson’s heartbeat, Bane watched the glow begin to fade, moving along his body as if it were the flowing tide of the river.
Only when the glow was completely gone did they fall into sleep.
Part Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
The world was different now.
Bane saw everything differently, knowing what he did. The people in the street looked as if they had been brainwashed or were out to get him and the people he loved. The world seemed to have lost colour and turned to shades of grey and black.
“Gods, you are such a melodramatic fucktard.”
Bane looked up from his computer to see Madison looking at him. “I’m sorry?”
“No, Bane, I’m the one that’s sorry. For Jackson at any rate. How can he handle such high levels of drama? I know that gays are all about the drama, but really, isn’t that a little much?”
“Hey, you’re the one inside my head.”
Madison grinned. “True. I kind of asked for it. But do you have to be such a gloomy puss about everything?”
Bane scoffed. “I’m sorry if I’m a bit down.” He kept his voice low so that only they could hear it. “It must be the fact that we’re talking about a revolution against the government body that has been lying to us for so long. Other than that, I’m peachy keen.”
Her face softening, Madison put a hand on his arm. “I know it’s hard. But it’s not like you had your head up your ass before. You knew that the work you were doing wasn’t really helping anyone. What’s different now?”
Bane shrugged. “I think it’s the fact that they lied to us even more than I thought they did. I mean, all those mortals able to do all kinds of magic kept separate from us. They would have been our friends if we weren’t taught that they were the enemy and had to be protected from themselves.”
